Form IV has the perfect pattern أَفْعَلَ and the imperfect pattern يُفْعِلُ. Its most visible marker is the initial hamzat al-qaṭʿ in the perfect, imperative, and verbal noun: it is written with a hamza and pronounced even after another word. Many Form IV verbs are causative or describe entering a state, but modern vocabulary has lexicalized each verb in its own way; the Arabic verb-system overview places derived Forms within the wider system.
The central example is أَرْسَلَ — يُرْسِلُ — إِرْسَالًا “send,” root ر-س-ل. Learn those three principal parts together; the English gloss alone cannot tell you whether Arabic uses Form II or Form IV.
The principal-part pattern
| Environment | Pattern | ر-س-ل |
|---|---|---|
| perfect, 3 m.sg. | أَفْعَلَ | أَرْسَلَ |
| imperfect indicative, 3 m.sg. | يُفْعِلُ | يُرْسِلُ |
| imperative, 2 m.sg. | أَفْعِلْ | أَرْسِلْ |
| verbal noun | إِفْعَال | إِرْسَال |
The derivational hamza appears in أرسل and إرسال, but the imperfect person prefix occupies the beginning of يرسل. It is therefore more precise to say that Form IV's initial alif is hamzat al-qaṭʿ whenever that hamza is present—not that every member of the paradigm literally begins with أ.
أرسل المدير النسخة النهائية إلى المطبعة.
ʾarsala l-mudīru n-nuskhata n-nihāʾiyyata ʾilā l-maṭbaʿa.
The director sent the final copy to the printing house.
يرسل النظام إشعارا بعد تأكيد الحجز.
yursilu n-niẓāmu ʾishʿāran baʿda taʾkīdi l-ḥajz.
The system sends a notification after the booking is confirmed.
أرسل takes the item sent as a direct object and normally introduces the recipient with إلى. English “send someone something” may place the recipient directly after send; do not transfer that English order mechanically.
Hamzat al-qaṭʿ never disappears in connected speech
Unlike the hamzat al-waṣl of Forms VII, VIII, and X, Form IV hamza remains audible after a preceding word. Compare ثمَّ أرسل thumma ʾarsala and the imperative ثمَّ أرسلْ thumma ʾarsil: the consonantal hamza survives in both.
راجعت ليلى العنوان ثم أرسلت الرسالة.
rājaʿat laylā l-ʿunwāna thumma ʾarsalati r-risāla.
Layla checked the address and then sent the message.
أرسلوا العقود إلى الإدارة قبل الظهر.
ʾarsilū l-ʿuqūda ʾilā l-ʾidārati qabla ẓ-ẓuhr.
Send the contracts to the administration before noon. (A male or mixed group.)
In ordinary unvocalized writing, أرسل can represent perfect “he sent” or imperative “send!”; syntax and vocalization distinguish أَرْسَلَ from أَرْسِلْ. Both retain hamzat al-qaṭʿ.
Causative is a tendency
Some Form IV verbs stand beside an intransitive Form I and add a causer. Form I خَرَجَ means “go out,” while Form IV أَخْرَجَ — يُخْرِجُ — إِخْرَاجًا (root خ-ر-ج) means “take out, remove, cause to leave.” Form I جَلَسَ means “sit,” while أَجْلَسَ — يُجْلِسُ — إِجْلَاسًا means “seat someone.” The added object is the participant caused to undergo the base event.
أخرج الفني البطارية التالفة من الجهاز.
ʾakhraja l-fanniyyu l-baṭṭāriyyata t-tālifata mina l-jihāz.
The technician removed the defective battery from the device.
أجلست الممرضة المريضة قرب النافذة.
ʾajlasati l-mumarriḍatu l-marīḍata qurba n-nāfidha.
The nurse seated the female patient near the window.
Yet “Form IV = make someone do Form I” fails as a general rule. أَعْلَنَ — يُعْلِنُ — إِعْلَانًا means “announce,” and أَفْلَسَ — يُفْلِسُ — إِفْلَاسًا means “go bankrupt.” The second verb is intransitive and describes entering a state; it is not a productive causative of a common modern verb فلس.
أعلنت الوزارة نتائج المسابقة صباح اليوم.
ʾaʿlanati l-wizāratu natāʾija l-musābaqati ṣabāḥa l-yawm.
The ministry announced the competition results this morning. (Formal news register.)
أفلست الشركة بعد خسارة عقدها الرئيسي.
ʾaflasati sh-sharikatu baʿda khasārati ʿaqdihā r-raʾīsiyy.
The company went bankrupt after losing its main contract.
Agreement and mood attach to the Form IV stem
The imperfect stem of أرسل is يُرْسِلـ. It is indicative يرسلُ, subjunctive يرسلَ after لن, and jussive يرسلْ after لم. English tense labels do not govern these endings; Arabic particles do.
| Subject/environment | Form |
|---|---|
| هو, perfect | أَرْسَلَ |
| هي, perfect | أَرْسَلَتْ |
| هما (f.), perfect | أَرْسَلَتَا |
| هم, imperfect indicative | يُرْسِلُونَ |
| after لن, 3 m.sg. | لَنْ يُرْسِلَ |
| after لم, 3 m.sg. | لَمْ يُرْسِلْ |
لن ترسل الباحثتان البيانات قبل مراجعتها.
lan tursila l-bāḥithatāni l-bayānāti qabla murājaʿatihā.
The two female researchers will not send the data before reviewing it. (Singular verb in VSO.)
الباحثتان لم ترسلا البيانات إلى الجهة الخارجية.
al-bāḥithatāni lam tursilā l-bayānāti ʾilā l-jihati l-khārijiyya.
The two female researchers did not send the data to the external organization. (Subject-first dual agreement.)
The first clause puts the verb before an overt dual subject, so formal neutral VSO uses a singular feminine verb. The second puts the dual subject first, so the verb takes dual agreement.
Weak, geminate, and hamzated roots
Root shape can obscure the abstract pattern. Hollow أَقَامَ — يُقِيمُ — إِقَامَةً “hold; establish; reside” (root ق-و-م) contracts the middle weak radical. In the singular jussive, لم يُقِمْ loses the long vowel; do not build يقوم by copying Form I قام / يقوم.
أقامت الجامعتان معرضا مشتركا للكتب.
ʾaqāmati l-jāmiʿatāni maʿriḍan mushtarakan lil-kutub.
The two universities held a joint book exhibition. (Nonhuman dual with feminine dual noun; singular verb in VSO.)
Final-weak أَعْطَى — يُعْطِي — إِعْطَاءً “give” (root ع-ط-و) has لم يُعْطِ in the singular jussive. Geminate أَعَدَّ — يُعِدُّ — إِعْدَادًا “prepare” (root ع-د-د) keeps its contraction. Root-initial hamza in آمَنَ — يُؤْمِنُ — إِيمَانًا “believe” (root أ-م-ن) interacts with the Form IV hamza: the perfect is written with madda آ, not as two separate hamzas.
لم يقم الفريق الحفل بسبب التحذير الجوي.
lam yuqimi l-farīqu l-ḥafla bisababi t-taḥdhīri l-jawwiyy.
The team did not hold the ceremony because of the weather warning.
أعدت الخبيرتان تقريرا مفصلا للمحكمة.
ʾaʿaddati l-khabīratāni taqrīran mufaṣṣalan lil-maḥkama.
The two female experts prepared a detailed report for the court.
Common Mistakes
Dropping hamzat al-qaṭʿ in spelling
❌ ارسل المدير النسخة النهائية.
Incorrect spelling—Form IV perfect and imperative begin with written hamzat al-qaṭʿ: أرسل.
✅ أرسل المدير النسخة المصححة إلى المطبعة.
ʾarsala l-mudīru n-nuskhata l-muṣaḥḥaḥata ʾilā l-maṭbaʿa.
The director sent the corrected copy to the printing house.
Treating every Form IV verb as a productive causative
❌ أفلس المدير الشركة.
Incorrect in the intended standard meaning—أفلس means ‘go bankrupt’ and is normally intransitive.
✅ أفلست الشركة بعد سنوات من الخسائر.
ʾaflasati sh-sharikatu baʿda sanawātin mina l-khasāʾir.
The company went bankrupt after years of losses.
Keeping indicative mood after لن
❌ لن يرسل التقرير اليوم.
Incorrect if يرسل is read with indicative -u—لن governs subjunctive يرسلَ.
✅ لن يرسل المكتب التقرير قبل توقيعه.
lan yursila l-maktabu t-taqrīra qabla tawqīʿih.
The office will not send the report before it is signed.
Giving a verb-first clause full plural agreement
❌ أرسلوا الموظفون العقود صباحا.
Incorrect in neutral formal VSO—use singular أرسل before the overt human plural subject.
✅ أرسل الموظفون العقود صباحا.
ʾarsala l-muwaẓẓafūna l-ʿuqūda ṣabāḥan.
The employees sent the contracts in the morning.
Regularizing a hollow jussive
❌ لم يقيم الفريق المعرض.
Incorrect in careful MSA—the hollow Form IV jussive is يقم, not يقيم.
✅ لم يقم الفريق المعرض هذا العام.
lam yuqimi l-farīqu l-maʿriḍa hādhā l-ʿām.
The team did not hold the exhibition this year.
Key Takeaways
- Form IV follows أَفْعَلَ — يُفْعِلُ — إِفْعَالًا.
- Its derivational hamza is hamzat al-qaṭʿ and remains pronounced in connected speech.
- Causation and entry into a state are common tendencies, not automatic translations.
- Learn each verb's transitivity and complement frame with its principal parts.
- Weak, geminate, and hamzated roots reshape the surface stem and must not be regularized.
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